Geoffrey Ursell was an award-winning writer of drama for stage, television, and radio, as well as of fiction, poetry, and songs. His stage plays won three national playwriting awards, and his novel Perdue won the Books in Canada First Novel Award. Geoff’s plays include the thriller Dead Midnight, Winning the Prairie Gamble (a collaboration with Barbara Sapergia,) Gold on Ice, and the musical comedy Saskatoon Pie!. He also dramatized Martha Blum’s acclaimed novel The Walnut Tree. Ursell, who was born in Moose Jaw and grew up in Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg, was a founding member and managing publisher of Coteau Books. He served as president of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild and the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre, and was an integral member of the province’s literary scene. In 2009, he was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit for his work in the arts. Geoff died in 2021.